The head of the Syndicat des professionnels du pneu (SPP), the organisation representing the tyre industry in France, has added his voice to those who say the European tyre label has little influence on consumer purchase decisions. SPP president Régis Audugé was quoted by Reuters on 13 November as saying “The effect (of the label) has been weak, not to say non-existent.”
Yokohama Rubber’s North America division, Yokohama Tire Corporation, has announced two new executive appointments: Naoki “Nick” Takeda, executive vice president and chief financial officer; and Taketoshi Morita, vice-president, OE business.
During the third quarter of 2013, Titan International recorded net sales of US$497.5 million, a 22.9 per cent year-on-year increase, while net sales for the first nine months of 2013 were $1,669.2 million, 25.8 per cent higher than during the same period of 2012.
Now that Maurice Taylor is making peace with France and workers in the country’s tyre sector, it appears Titan International’s French connection is not its only European interest. The Financial Times reported over the weekend that Titan is “weighing bids for three additional plants in Europe in deals that would take its sales in the region from US$750 million in 2012 to $1.3 billion.”
Following a Europe-wide tender process, Continental has been awarded a contract to deliver Deutsche Bahn some 17,000 bus tyres in several countries. Upon announcing the tyre supply deal for Deutsche Bahn’s DB Region and DB Arriva subsidiaries, the railway operator said Continental won the contract as its overall economic and service-oriented package created a favourable impression.
Giti Tire has announced the appointment of Lorella Maggiori as marketing manager for Italy and Spain. Formerly of Bridgestone Italy’s marketing department Maggiori will support Corrado Moglia, general manager – southern Europe, and work in partnership with the senior management and marketing teams of each importer across all passenger car, SUV, light truck and truck & bus programmes. Giti says it is currently growing in both countries, seeing both as key European markets.
New car registration figures for September show the UK once again delivered above-average performance, with the market growing 12.1 per cent year-on-year to 403,136 new registrations during the month. Registrations across the EU27 region were up 5.4 per cent on September 2012, with 1,159,066 new registrations recorded. Upon reporting these results, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ […]
A range of new Michelin apps are heading our way. Following their recent launch in France, Michelin Mobility Apps will be available in the UK at the end of this year.
Westlake has expanded its distribution network in Spain via an agreement with Spain’s Transcose to distribute its passenger, 4×4 and van tyre ranges in the central provinces of Avila, Soria and Segovia.
Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) has named Robert Harrelson as its new vice president of human resources and administration. With his appointment, Harrelson will be responsible for the integration of human resources strategies, plans and programs across all of YTC’s North American operations. Harrelson replaces Rex Simpson, who retired in September.
The London-based Royal Society of Chemistry writes that scientists in Spain have reported the first self-healing polymer that spontaneously repairs itself without any intervention. Although the material – dubbed the ‘Terminator’ after the shape-shifting terminator seen in the franchise’s second film – is some time away from commercial release, it may be suited to a wide array of applications, including in tyres.
Brazilian retreading products manufacturer Vipal has launched its VT160 tyre tread, designed specially to improve the traction of heavy vehicles in snow. The tread was first presented at Autopromotec in Bologna, when Vipal said the tread was suited best to heavy vehicles travelling on a variety of surfaces.
Michelin’s tyre supply and co-development relationship with Porsche dates back to 1961, and this long joint history continues with the French manufacturer’s selection as sole tyre supplier to Porsche’s new hybrid supercar, the 918 Spyder. The 918-specific Sport Cup 2 will be fitted in size 265/35-ZR20 at the front and size 325/30-ZR21 on the rear.
At the end of July Chinese tyre manufacturer Shandong Linglong opened a European tyre testing office at the IDIADA facility in Tarragona, Spain.
At the opening ceremony general manager, Feng Baochun, deputy general manager of marketing, welcomed visitors on behalf of chairman Wang Feng and spoke of the company’s desire to take its products to the next level. Following the ceremony Linglong Tire Europe demonstrated texts designed to assess its radials’ rolling resistance, fuel consumption, noise (there is a semi-anechoic chamber on-site) and other characteristics.
Several months ago, Goodyear commissioned French market research company MV2 Conseil to look into tyre purchasing habits amongst European fleet operators. To gain an insight into the priorities at play when selecting tyres, during June and July MV2 Conseil interviewed approximately 500 fleet operators based in France, Italy, Germany, Poland and Spain. Goodyear has now published the study’s preliminary findings.
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